NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – Fairfield (5-3-3, 3-0-0 MAAC) used a two goal second half to earn a comeback 2-1 win over Niagara (2-8-1, 1-2-1 MAAC) Saturday afternoon in MAAC women's soccer action from Niagara Field.
How it Happened
It would take just one shot for Niagara to get on the board Saturday afternoon, as
Amanda Cripps recorded her first goal of the season in the eighth minute of action to give the Purple Eagles the early lead.
Trinity Meinhart and
Emily Hähnel were credited with the assists as Meinhart got the play started from the bottom corner and Hähnel was able to find Cripps with a short pass for the goal.
A pair of shots from Niagara, the first off the foot off
Emma Bough in the 16th minute, and the second an attempt from
Isabella Mazzaferro in the 22nd minute nearly gave Niagara a multi-goal lead but Bough had her attempt saved and Mazzaferro hit the crossbar.
Sophomore keeper
Agnes Stenlund made her first save of the contest in the 23rd minute, punching out a shot that came from nearly 25-yards out. Stenlund would face a trio of shots from the 26th minute to the 30th, all of which were off target from the Stags.
Stenlund would make her second save of the contest in the 32nd minute, keeping Niagara ahead by one.
Bough would take a shot in the 39th minute of action that would carom off the keeper and find the foot of
Katie Diem, who sent it over the crossbar.
Stenlund was put to the test immediately to start the second half, making her third save of the contest. The keeper would go on to make another save, before conceding the game-tying gal in the 60th minute off a Fairfield set piece.
The Stags would nearly take the lead on three occasions, before finally doing so in the 75th minute with a goal that went off a leaping Stenlunds hands.
Niagara would look to tie the game and come away with a point from the MAAC leading Stags, taking a total of five shots after allowing the go-ahead goal. Bough would have a shot go off the crossbar and another saved by the Fairfield goalie, while Mazzaferro would also have a shot stopped by the keeper.
In the final five minutes of action, Niagara would nearly find the equalizer off a corner, but
Katie Diem's shot would find the hands of the keeper, sealing the win for the visiting Stags.
Niagara Notes
• Niagara moves to 12-22-2 al-time against Fairfield.
• Three of the last five meetings with Fairfield have been decided by one goal.
• Cripps' goal in the first half is her first of 2023 and first since Sept. 4, 2022 at Cleveland State.
• With her assist, Hähnel now has a team-leading five points on the season.
• Meinhart's assist is the first of her career.
Up Next
Niagara will play its first mid-week MAAC contest of the season when they travel to Emmitsburg, Md., for a match with Mount St. Mary's Wednesday at 2 p.m.
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